We drove down to Corvallis this evening to listen to a lecture by a New York Times reporter named Chris Hedges. Hedges has written two books, one called War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, and the other (not yet published) is called What Every Person Should Know About War.

I didn’t realize that I was actually familiar with Chris Hedges and his topics of discussion prior to this evening. I had forgotten the name, but a quick perusal of Common Dreams refreshed my memory. Hedges is the commencement speaker who was booed off the stage last May for giving an “anti-war” speech. I believe that the speech he had intended to give at that commencement is very similar to the one we heard this evening, so here’s a link to the May transcript: Text of the Rockford College graduation speech by Chris Hedges. Typing “Chris Hedges” into Common Dreams’ search engine brings up quite a few hits about Hedges, if you’re interested.

Prior to my memory refreshing, I did not realize that Hedges was supposed to be controversial, so it was with a very open mind that I went to the lecture. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. This is a man who has seen war, has been an observer, and who (to put it bluntly) knows his shit.

If you get a chance to hear him, do go. He’s quite the speaker, for sure. You can also read an interview here: Interview With Chris Hedges.

OSU will be hosting Barbara Ehrenreich in April. I can’t wait.